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Tontitown Makes Pasta For Its 116th Festival

The 116th Tontitown Grape Festival is less than a month away and dozens of volunteers are getting their hands full of flour for its famous spaghetti supper. The...

The 116th Tontitown Grape Festival is less than a month away and dozens of volunteers are getting their hands full of flour for its famous spaghetti supper.

They started making pasta this week and plan to continue next Monday (July 14) and Thursday (July 17). They'll serve spaghetti Aug. 7-9, which benefits St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Tontitown.

Margie Ceola has helped with the spaghetti dinner for 57 years and she said their sauce is unique.

"I know that I don't eat spaghetti sauce anyplace else, except in Tontitown," Ceola said. "It's a different sauce, it's a recipe that's been handed down for years and years.

Tontitown Mayor Jack Beckford said it's a simple and repetitive process. He said they use eggs and flour, mix it up, roll it down in flat sheets, cut it, hang it on a rack to dry and start over."

Anytime you get a group of volunteers together, they want to be there," Beckford said. "It gives them a chance to see people they might not see every day."

It's a tradition passed down through the generations. The first Italian immigrants moved to Tontitown in 1895, according to the city's website.

They'll have 3,600 pounds of spaghetti ready to serve by the time they're done, he said.

"You get together, you work together three or four times," Beckford said. "It's just nice."

The spaghetti supper is $12 for adults and $6 for kids.

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